Town and Country Center

Update

At the November 18, 2009 Palm Springs City council meeting, the Museum Market Plaza Specific Plan (which includes the historic Town & Country Center) was amended as follows: "No permit for the demolition or substantial alteration of any portion of the Town and Country Center will be issued until (a) all discretionary entitlements consistent with the Specific Plan have been approved for the renovation or redevelopment of the existing Desert Fashion Plaza; (b) building permits in furtherance of such renovation or redevelopment have been issued; and (c) substantial work consistent with such building permits have commenced on the existing Desert Fashion Plaza."  

It is PSPF’s view that the foregoing amendment guarantees the safety of the T&CC for the immediate future as the current owner/developer has asserted he does not have the financial wherewithal to renovate the Desert Fashion Plaza.  Should the current owner/developer fail to renovate the Desert Fashion Plaza in a timely manner, we are confident that the city of Palm Springs will take legal action to acquire and renovate the T&CC.

Summer 2009 Update

On June 24, 2009 the Palm Springs City Council voted 5-0 AGAINST Class 1 historic site designation of the Town and Country Center despite significant public support and an endorsement from the State of California's Office of Historic Preservation. We will keep you updated as the T&CC drama continues to unfold.

Read our informational flyer 10 Myths and Misconceptions About the Town & Country Center and Historic Preservation. On June 18, 2009, PSPF volunteers delivered a copy of the 10 Myths flyer along with a cover letter to 200 Downtown Palm Springs Business Owners. To read the cover letter click here...

Background

Consistent with the city staff's findings, on June 9, 2009 the city's Historic Site Preservation Board voted 4-2 (DeLeeuw, Gilmer, Marshall and Williams supporting) recommending Class 1 historic site designation of the Town and Country Center (T&CC) to the city council.

The nomination was authored by PSPF board member Patrick McGrew and is a thoughtful and scholarly assessment of the historic and architectural merits of the property. The 21-page nomination has already injected some much-needed objectivity into the sometimes emotional T&CC debate.

Unfortunately, proponents of demolishing the T&CC have been swayed by the developer's specious arguments that (1) the building is unremarkable, (2) it would be expensive to renovate and (3) it is not an economically viable business configuration.

These arguments, of course, are flawed. Any concerned citizen who reads the nomination will readily conclude that the building is historically and architecturally important. Secondly, renovation costs alluded to by the developer have been unrealistically high. Thirdly, we know that courtyard configurations have not only been viable in the past but are viable today (witness the success of "The Corridor" complex just a few blocks north of the T&CC).

The economic viability of our downtown is not some elusive goal. Historic preservation has worked to revitalize hundreds of downtowns all over the country. Many of these downtowns have fewer and far less remarkable architectural resources than Palm Springs. We need only to point these simple truths out to our fellow citizens and elected leaders.

See http://www.friendsoftcc.com/ for additional information and vintage photographs of the Town and Country Center.